space shuttle

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Search for WWII Plane Turns Up Chunk of Challenger Shuttle

20-foot remnant found by documentary crew off coast of Florida

(Newser) - It's been more than 35 years since the Challenger space shuttle exploded shortly after takeoff, killing all seven crew members—but a documentary team has just unearthed a big chunk of debris from the doomed spacecraft. In a Thursday release , NASA confirmed the discovery, made in the Atlantic Ocean...

Engineer Who Tried to Stop Challenger Launch Dies

Allan McDonald warned that O-rings could fail

(Newser) - Allan McDonald, the engineer who refused to approve the launch of the space shuttle Challenger, has gone to his grave with a clean conscience. McDonald. the engineer in charge of the booster-rocket program at NASA contractor Morton Thiokol, risked his career by resisting pressure from NASA and his bosses to...

SpaceX Sends Mysterious Air Force Minishuttle Into Orbit

It's the 5th minishuttle flight, but their missions remain a secret

(Newser) - SpaceX launched the Air Force's super-secret space shuttle on Thursday, a technology tester capable of spending years in orbit, the AP reports. The unmanned Falcon rocket blasted off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center, as schools and businesses boarded up for Hurricane Irma. It's the fifth flight for...

India Tests 'Mini Space Shuttle'
 India Tests 'Mini Space Shuttle' 
May 24, 2016 12:30 AM CDT

India Tests 'Mini Space Shuttle'

Country is trying to bring space costs down 90%

(Newser) - India has successfully tested its first small space shuttle as part of its efforts to make low-cost reusable spacecraft. The Indian Space Research Organization says a rocket carrying the mini-shuttle lifted off from a launch pad in southern India on Monday and completed a successful 13-minute test flight. Space expert...

Huge Space Shuttle Fuel Tank Squeezes Down LA Streets

It was expected to take up to 18 hours to move the tank 16 miles

(Newser) - A massive space shuttle fuel tank squeezed through the streets of Los Angeles and loomed over vehicles on a busy freeway Saturday to join the retired orbiter Endeavour on display at the California Science Center, the AP reports. The 33-ton, 154-foot-long external propellant tank began moving a few minutes after...

The Challenger Disaster: The Day in Pictures

Looking back on the 30th anniversary of the space shuttle's explosion

(Newser) - Thirty years ago, the space shuttle Challenger exploded after liftoff, killing all seven people onboard—including high-school teacher Christa McAuliffe. The 25th flight for NASA's space shuttle program was to have studied Halley's Comet and deployed two satellites, Discovery News reports; McAuliffe was to have taught science lessons...

A Poem Helped Reagan Explain Challenger Disaster

Challenger exploded 30 years ago Thursday

(Newser) - Thursday is the 30th anniversary of the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, and there's plenty of interesting coverage of the tragedy that killed all seven aboard, including teacher Christa McAuliffe. Some highlights:
  • The Washington Post looks back on how Ronald Reagan scrapped plans to deliver his State of
...

Boots, Beads: NASA Honors Its Fallen Astronauts

Exhibit offers touching tribute to those on board Challenger, Columbia

(Newser) - The 14 display cases at Kennedy Space Center contain intensely personal mementoes and items representing the astronauts who perished in the Challenger and Columbia accidents. They are part of NASA's new "Forever Remembered" exhibit, which includes the first public display of pieces from each lost space shuttle. NASA'...

'Big Bird' Almost Went Up in Challenger Shuttle

'It made my scalp crawl to think I was supposed to be on that'

(Newser) - Big Bird was almost a passenger on the doomed Challenger space shuttle in 1986. Caroll Spinney, who has played the Sesame Street character for 46 years, has a new documentary—I Am Big Bird—and he discussed the dark tidbit while discussing the film with Today . NASA thought that if...

For Sale: Space Shuttle Launch Pad, Slightly Used

NASA selling off pieces of Kennedy Space Center

(Newser) - If you've been looking for a place to park your spaceship, then NASA has got a deal for you. With the space shuttle program on ice, Uncle Sam is hoping to sell or lease its Kennedy Space Center facilities, including its 15,000-foot landing strip, its launchpad, its rocket...

Endeavour Finally Reaches Its Permanent Home

12 miles later, the space shuttle arrives at a Los Angeles museum

(Newser) - It took much longer than expected, but the Space shuttle Endeavour has finally reached its permanent resting place at a Los Angeles museum. After a 12-mile journey through city streets that included thousands of adoring onlookers, flashing cameras, and even the filming of a TV commercial, Endeavour arrived at the...

Endeavour Still Inching Toward Final Destination

Scheduled to arrive at California Science Center tonight

(Newser) - At every turn of Endeavour's stop-and-go commute through urban streets , a constellation of spectators trailed along as the space shuttle ploddingly nosed past stores, schools, churches, and front yards. Having escaped out of Earth's atmosphere two dozen times, Endeavour's slow-speed trek today to its retirement center took...

Endeavour on Its Last, Very Slow, Mission

Space shuttle crawls through the streets toward its final destination

(Newser) - At its prime, the space shuttle Endeavour cruised around the Earth at 17,500mph, faster than a speeding bullet. In retirement, it's crawling along at a sluggish 2mph, a pace that rush-hour commuters can sympathize with. Endeavour's 12-mile road trip kicked off shortly before midnight as it moved...

Endeavour Hits Political Turbulence on Final Journey

Los Angeles science center makes amends for 400 trees felled

(Newser) - Forget technical difficulties: It's politics that have posed a problem in Endeavour's last journey. The space shuttle has been soaring across the US in celebration of its 20 years and 122,883,151 miles. But the last 12 miles of its journey—through south Los Angeles on a...

NASA: We'll Launch Astronauts in 5 Years

Three commercial companies will build new crafts

(Newser) - NASA is gearing up to again launch humans into space ... within five years. The agency retired its fleet of shuttles last summer, and this morning it announced a deal worth about $1 billion with three American companies to design and construct the next generation of rocket ships to take off...

Look Up, NYC: Enterprise Flies Today

 Enterprise Flies Over NYC 
Apr 27, 2012 10:58 AM CDT

Enterprise Flies Over NYC

Retiring space shuttle gets piggy-back ride over Manhattan

(Newser) - An unusual flying object has landed at New York's JFK Airport: the space shuttle Enterprise. Before arriving this morning, it zoomed around New York City's airspace, riding on top of a modified jumbo jet as part of NASA's process of wrapping up the shuttle program . Enterprise is...

Newt's Lunar Ideas Not Lunacy
 Newt's 
 Lunar Ideas 
 Not Lunacy 
OPINION
Apr 24, 2012 11:14 AM CDT

Newt's Lunar Ideas Not Lunacy

We should listen to Gingrich's space ideas: Jeffrey Goldberg

(Newser) - Jeffrey Goldberg is not what one might call a Newt Gingrich fan, but as he sat on the tarmac at Reagan National Airport gazing at the space shuttle Discovery as it prepared for its final flight, he realized something: "On the matter of space exploration … Newt Gingrich is...

Discovery Takes Last Ride
 Discovery Ends Final Ride 
UPDATED
Apr 17, 2012 11:00 AM CDT

Discovery Ends Final Ride

Space shuttle soars above DC, heads for Smithsonian

(Newser) - Space shuttle Discovery landed today at Washington Dulles International Airport, where its wheels will stop for the last time at the Smithsonian. The world's most traveled spaceship landed after taking off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and soaring around the Washington Monument and White House in a salute to the...

Atlantis Makes Final Landing
 Atlantis Makes Final Landing 
Jul 21, 2011 7:59 AM CDT

Atlantis Makes Final Landing

30-year shuttle program ends smoothly

(Newser) - The very last space shuttle landing was as smooth as they come. NASA's 30-year space shuttle program came to end just before sunrise as Atlantis landed safely in Florida, the AP reports. The shuttle, which performed perfectly during its final mission to resupply the International Space Station, is home...

Post-Shuttle Era NASA: Now What?

Agency lacks clear vision for future of space exploration

(Newser) - Atlantis' wheels will hit Earth early Thursday, closing out NASA's epic 30-year space shuttle program for good. But when the dust clears, the space agency has no clear replacement program on the horizon to lead America's return to space, notes the LA Times . Rather, the trailblazing agency is...

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